Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is running for Pennsylvania's open Senate seat as a Republican, slammed primary opponent Kathy Barnette on Saturday for her history of posting Islamophobic tweets, Fox News reports.
If elected, Oz would be the first Muslim senator in United States history.
"We must stop interacting with them as if they r rational human beings. There is nothing rational about Islam," Barnette tweeted in 2015. She also shared an article with the headline "Pedophilia is a Cornerstone of Islam."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Oz, who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, said in an interview Saturday that he considers Barnette's "Islamophobic" remarks to be "disqualifying."
"This state was based on religious freedom. I'm proud as a Pennsylvanian to uphold those founding beliefs that every faith has its merits," Oz said.
According to The New York Post, "Barnette has been outspent 358-to-1 on TV ads by her well-funded rivals," Oz and former hedge fund CEO David McCormick, who have leveled scathing attacks at each other while leaving Barnette relatively unscathed.
In the past two weeks, Barnette — a military veteran and political commentator who has never held public office — has surged in the polls and is running neck-and-neck with Oz and McCormick ahead of Tuesday's primary.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocratFeature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlockFeature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoffSpeed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsionSpeed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot
